Sarcoramphus
Genus of New World vulture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sarcoramphus is a genus of New World vulture that contains a single extant species, the king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa).
| Sarcoramphus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Juvenile and adult king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Sarcoramphus Duméril, 1805 |
| Species | |
| |
Extinct members of the genus include the Kern vulture (Sarcoramphus kernense) from the mid-Pliocene of North America,[1] and Sarcoramphus fischeri from the Late Pleistocene of Peru.[2]
A hypothetical species known as the painted vulture is also assigned to this genus, but no concrete proof of its existence has been found as of yet.[3]